The invention described herein relates to an innovative method for determining and presenting customized size advice for bras. Existing methods are often based on the use of a custom size table where, based on some body measurements of the person a “best fit” size in the table is selected. An example of such a custom fit table is provided in FIG. 1. In this example on one axis is plotted the circumference under the bust and on the other axis the circumference measured over (the fullest part of) the bust.
In practice however the results in fitting a bra based on these methods is only moderate and, therefore, these existing methods are often not used. The problems associated with these custom tables are due to the fact that one departs from standardized breast shapes and volumes; and that band and cup sizes are not standardized, but vary considerably from one manufacturer to another, resulting in sizes that only provide an approximate fit. A further problem resides in the body measurements used in the foregoing methods. It has been sufficiently proven that they are not decisive for estimating the correct size. Thus, only in about 30% of the cases the correct size is predicted by such a table (see Pechter patent publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,809).
Pechter therefore proposed an improved method on the basis of a size below the bust and a size of each breast from the beginning of the breast mound at one side laterally to the parasternal area medially. Where this method, if done properly, would result in a higher correct score, it still departs from standardized breast shapes and volumes. Breasts are often uneven in shape, allowing for one breast to fit better to one size than the other breast. Also measurement of the second body size is difficult to perform, especially with sagging breasts. Another problem is that the method does not provide insight into the fit problem: it is not always the case that a particular size in all respects gives the best fit. A person is in many cases somewhere between two, three or even four bra sizes. One such size might give the best lift, the other size improved shaping and a third size the best coverage. Consequently, bra fitting usually falls back on the “trial and error” method.                In other words, the prior art bra fitting methods;                    Have a poor accuracy, and often give in only 30% of the cases a correct answer            Some methods perform better but are difficult to implement.            Methods predict a “best fit” size, but provide no insight into the fit issues.                        
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a bra fitting method, that is accurate, easy to implement, and that provides insights into the fit problem of the user. As already mentioned herein above, this is realized by correlating one or more given bodily dimensions, with one or more bra dimensions that are representative for the functional performance of the bra and visualizing said correlation to the user in a multi-dimensional space.